SUBMISSION TO GOD
ALONE

A Beginner's Thoughts

I was a “Traditional Muslim.”
Not just an average Traditional Mus-lim but a staunch Traditional Mus-lim.
My appearance, my deeds, my religious practices, my lifestyle were all
in accordance with Sunna, Hadith and the supposed lifestyle of Muhammad.
I did be-lieve that there is no god but God; I believed in the angels;
I believed that Quran is one of God’s scrip-tures and that Muhammad
was one among the various prophets and messengers God sent to this world
with the message “La Elaaha Ella Allah,” and I believed in
the Day of Judgment. But all this was mere lip service. I never actually
ob-served the five daily Salat (Con-tact) prayers. I only went to the
Friday prayer [once a week] and “Eid prayer [twice a year].”

It all began in 1992. There was a beggar who
used to pass by my house every morning saying loudly “Rab ne paida
kiya bandagi ke liye” (Translation: “The Lord has created
us to worship Him.”) God made me realise that there was a purpose
of my existence and it is mentioned in Quran in 51:56 “I did not
create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me alone.”

This set the ball rolling and I de-cided to follow Islam more relig-iously.
I started saying the five Salat prayers reverently in congre-gation. I
started attending Ijtema’s (religious meetings). But as per the
traditional Muslims, my source of guidance was Hadith and Sun-nah because
according to thei

claim it was very difficult to un-derstand
the Quran, and was only meant to be recited. I removed the TV from my
house and changed my dress code. I began to analyse every act and deed
of mine, and if it was not in accordance with Hadith or Sunnah, I would
refrain from doing it.

Despite my doing all this for years, there was no joy in my life. I was
always confused and thought that there was something wrong with this type
of traditional form of worship — something was missing. Wherever
and whenever I attended religious get-togethers, I found them praising
prophets and messengers, especially Muham-mad and the Saints.